Simple Li’l Post

Hi, sweet friends.

A short & sweet li’l post:

Our weekend was fabulous.  Friday night my Hubster whisked me away to a fabulous Mexican restaurant so I could get in my kick for the month (we are SERIOUSLY lacking in the Mexican food department in our area).  He knows how to melt my heart – wine and guacamole.  MMMMM.  Saturday we put up our Christmas lights outside (I know, FINALLY!) and I finished last minute details on our inside decorations – SO COZY, loving it.  After we were finished we took a drive to grab some hot chocolate and then came home and took Tucker for a walk.  Hot chocolate, Christmas lights, heavy coats, mittens and my little family – I was in heaven.  Tucker was too.  I think he was on sensory overload with all of the lights.  After that we went to a birthday shindig for the neighbors.  Sunday was church, lunch and BLIND SIDE!!!  AMAZINGGGGG!  Oh, and there has been some MAJOR baking action in our household; can’t wait to share details.  All in all, such a sweet and fun weekend.

(And something MAJORLY exciting happened over the weekend to someone SOooOOoooo special in my life!!!  But I’m waiting until I’m given the “ok” to make it public on here.  EEEEK!  It’s exciting!!)

Right now, as I type this, my precious Father-In-Love/Law is having a pretty major operation on his pancreas and gallbladder.  I’m kind of a nervous wreck and therefore am making this post short.  My mind is preoccupied with prayer and practicing patience (trying at least).  It’s a five hour operation.  Prayers would be awesome!  Eeeeek.  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”  My heart is repeating this.

My mind is also in a constant mental planning/accepting/delegating mode as we’re in the midst of this whirlwind that is now our calendar.  So many holiday parties/dinners, so little time!  Isn’t it the best?  I’m loving it, but I would be lying if I didn’t say I’m also feeling it.  Whew!  I will post again this week and then take a hiatus.  I’m so excited to spend time with my sweet family and friends and enjoy all of the celebrations, dinners, parties and trips we have in store over the next two weeks.  Oh, and NYC to see Mary Poppins on Broadway!  How fun is that?!  Okay, more to come later.

Happy Tuesday, sweet friends.

Blessings/XOXO

Little T – follow up

You all left such sweet comments about Tucker’s Advent calendar and many of you asked me where my mom got it, so I did a little research.  My mom and dad bought it at a small boutique in Carmel, California while they were on vacation there last month.  She couldn’t remember the exact name of the place, so we went online and did some searching and found the EXACT same puppy Advent calendar here.  So bookmark the website and have it ready for your sweet little pups next year!  SO FUN!!

I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL weekend!  Do you have any big plans?  We have a weekend HOME ahead of us and I couldn’t be more excited to relax, wrap, bake and just ENJOY!  Honey-Hubby and I have a few little dates planned (We still haven’t seen the Blind Side! I am SO ready to see this movie!).  SO EXCITED.  This is the last weekend we’ll be home until January.  Isn’t this time of year just so crazy?!  I LOVE IT!

Happy Friday!

Blessings/XOXO

Little T

My mom and dad give my nieces and nephew a special Advent calendar every year. 

Guess who else received one.

Tucker has his own Advent calendar!   HYSTERICAL.  I love it!!  I couldn’t believe my mom found this!

Inside are little doggie cookies that smell like delicious ginger snaps.  Seriously, I am tempted to try one – they smell SO GOOD!

And apparently little T thinks so too.  This is the face we see every morning as he waits anxiously for his countdown cookie.

 

Hahaha ooooooohhhh this makes me smile.

Tucker is counting down to Christmas too.

Happy Wednesday!

Blessings/XOXO

A weekend to remember.

What an amazing weekend!

Friday night we headed to my parent’s house so we would be there bright and early on Saturday to kick off my mom’s special birthday festivities.

My parents were at a special dinner with some friends so Hubby and I enjoyed a night out on the town together with delicious wine and appetizers, including this AMAZING escargot.  So good that I had to get a picture of it.  Mmmmm.  Oh food, how I love you.

Saturday: My mom’s Surprise Six-“Tea” Party!

She was SO surprised.  Eleven of us gathered at an adorable English tea house where we welcomed my mom with huge smiles, big hugs, TONS of sweet goodies and an afternoon showering her with all of the birthday goodness she SO deserves.  What fun!  The menu included: several delicious tea flavors, gourmet tea sandwiches, fresh scones, petit fours, pastries and chocolate cake with raspberry ganache – we left SO FULL.  Full of tasty treats, stories, memories, laughter and LOVE. A room of people celebrating my mom and their love for her – it was truly such a SWEET experience.  My heart is full of precious memories!

 

Turning the corner and seeing ALL of us there waiting for her.

She was so surprised!  Here are a few pictures to share…

 

 

Sharing memories.

    

Four generations.  My grandma is 91 years old!

(My sister Delaney and my other niece are missing from this picture, but they were there in spirit.  We missed you guys!) 

And as if the weekend weren’t magical enough…

We had the season’s first snowfall!  Every year, like magic, it snows on my mom’s birthday.  It was BEAUTIFUL!

Tucker’s first snow! It was SO cute to watch him.

Sunday we did some Christmas shopping and then headed home to a frosted neighborhood.

Christmas is on its way!

What a WONDERFUL weekend.  I hope yours was full of sweet memories too!

Blessings/XOXO

My Mother, My Best Friend

Tomorrow is such a special day, I am so excited. It honestly brings me to tears when I think about how incredible my mom is and what an inspiration she has been to me in my life.  Tomorrow is her 60th birthday. I can only pray that I am as radiantly beautiful as she is, inside and out, when I turn 60.  We have so many surprises planned for her - I can’t wait to finally share them with you (next week!).  For today, I want to share with the virtual world just how blessed I am to have this woman in my life.  Not only is she my mom, but she is truly one of the best friends I have ever had.  My heart has been overflowing with sweet memories these past several weeks as we have been preparing for her special day.  Two in particular make my heart swell with happiness.  One morning my mom woke me up and informed me that instead of going to school, we were going on a mother-daughter adventure.  We went to a park and set up canvases and trays of oil paint.  I felt like a mini Monet as we let our imaginations run wild, painting silhouettes of trees and brushing our versions of the hot, TX sky. That day I learned just how spectacular of an artist my mom really is.  We proceeded to have a bubble gum blowing contest and then lunch together.  It was magical.  The summer after I graduated from high school we took a special trip, just the two of us. We drove along the East Coast and made our way up to Maine, stopping at every single spot we deemed worthy of our presence.  That is one of the BEST ways to travel.  No agenda, no expectations.  We saw The Old Man of the Mountain before it collapsed only a few months later.  We stayed up all night in sleeping bags watching the Perseid shower and counted over 100 shooting stars together.  Oh my goodness, the memories and laughter we’ve shared goes on forever.  I am so excited to hopefully some day share the same joys and adventures with my own little ones.  My prayer is that I will mirror the portrait of the Proverbs 31 woman – a loving, Godly mother, wife and daughter of our King.  Mom, thank you for showing me what that truly means. Your joy is contagious.  Your passion for life is inspiring.  You are, quite simply, nothing short of AMAZING. 

I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for showing me a love so profound.  You are truly one of the greatest gifts God has given me.  I am SO blessed to be your daughter.  I love you to heaven and back, times a billion and one (and more).

LOVE.

Annabelle

Seriously, I do NOT think my mom looks like she is turning 60!

See the babe in gold?  BEAUTIFUL.

Happy 60th Birthday, Mommykins!

Blessings/XOXO

My sweet, little family.

A few proofs from our photo session!

 

 

 

 

 

(The photographer said, “Let me see that smile, Tucker!” and he seriously grinned from ear to ear.)

Please stay tuned! 

Some of you may remember the post I wrote called "My Original Valentine". 

Tomorrow is my precious mother’s turn!

Blessings/XOXO

Praises.

What a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving and weekend!  I even had off yesterday too, sooo nice!  I can’t wait to catch up with everyone and see how your holiday was spent.  Guess what – my FIL was released from the hospital on Wednesday!  Talk about the PERFECT way to celebrate Thanksgiving.  He is still not out of the woods yet, and is in a rehab center for a few weeks, BUT, he is back in PA with us and we are SO thankful.  We have been lifting up our praises continuously!  My FIL was in Minnesota on a business trip when he was rushed to the hospital, six weeks ago, with severe stomach pains.  It turned out to be more serious than we thought and he was unable to travel back home until he was stable enough to fly.  Finally the time came on Wednesday, six weeks later, that he could travel home and it gives me goosebumps that it was on Thanksgiving Eve. Our prayers have been answered, THANK YOU!!

AND, speaking of Thanksgiving – GUESS WHAT - the house didn’t burn down and no one got food poisoning!  Ha!  Everything turned out SO well.  We brought EVERYTHING over to hubby’s parent’s house and did the whole shebang there.  If there is anything I learned from our experience cooking the big meal for our first time, it’s that my mom is a ROCK STAR.  All of the moms/dads/peeps out there who do this on an annual basis are ROCK STARS!  I was EXHAUSTED after everything was finished, to say the least.  It really was so much fun being in the kitchen with Hubby, cooking up a storm.  We kept giving high fives and going into group huddles, haha.  Such great team work!  It was also sooo much fun relaxing on the couch after it was all finished!  All in all, it truly was a perfect day spent with hubby’s sweet family.  It was fantastic.  Some pics!

(Seriously, how cute is he in that moose apron?!  I swoon.)

A garlic/butter glaze with roasted vegetables.  One of the recipes we found during our research session at B&N.  The research paid off!  Delish.

Tucker was going CrAzY with all of the smells in the kitchen.

Carving the little beauty.

Have you ever actually carved a whole turkey?  I now know it takes some MAD skills.  My FIL taught Hubby well.  :o)

Setting the table.

Mmmmm.  Dessert.  Oh, and guess who forgot to bake the pie crust before filling it with the no-bake, chocolate-pumpkin-cream-pie filling?  ME.  Good thing we had an extra pie crust!  Crisis diverted, phew.

Our little furry-baby is not so little anymore!

And speaking of our furry baby…

Pictures are back!  Can’t wait to share!!  Coming next. (see the blue shoes?!)

My heart was so overwhelmed with thankfulness and joy these past several days, including thanks for ALL OF YOU.  Thank you for always being so encouraging.  Ya’ll are, quite simply, AMAZING.

Happy Tuesdsay!

Blessings/XOXO

PS. It’s December 1st!!!!  Does it get any better than this?!